NEWSLINK: Ukraine drops plan to go West, turns East

[Ukraine drops plan to go West, turns East – Reuters – Richard Balmforth and Pavel Polityuk – November 21, 2013 – reuters.com/article/2013/11/21/us-ukraine-eu-idUSBRE9AK0S220131121]

Reuters reports on Ukraine’s sudden shift from a pending deal with the European Union back towards Russia:

Ukraine’s government announced it was suspending preparations for a landmark trade pact with the European Union … [saying] it would renew active dialogue with Russia to help its economy.

A dramatic diplomatic turnaround, the government order came just eight days before President Viktor Yanukovich was due to sign an agreement on trade and cooperation with the EU which would mark a pivotal shift westwards for the ex-Soviet republic’s 46 million people, away from historic ally Moscow.

Ukraine said “national security” issues motivated the switch:

The order issued by Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said the government was suspending preparations for concluding the agreement with the EU ‘with the aim of adopting measures to ensure national security’. Ukraine has been concerned that a punitive Russian trade response could hurt its economy.

Russian threats of economic retaliation against Ukraine for an EU deal might have impacted Ukrainian public sentiment, which had been divided on the EU question as it was.

The Russian threats come against a backdrop of past Ukrainian-Russian disputes over gas, and perhaps stoked fears that Russia might cut off Russian energy supplies.

Ukraine signaled plans to engage Russia, the Customs Union and the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) generally.

While a Russian presidential spokesman welcomed the move, the German foreign minister expressed continued EU interest in Ukraine.

At the same time, the EU had been pushing for greater democratization in Ukraine, including judicial and electoral reform, and an end to “selective justice.”  In particular, the EU asked for Ukraine to allow imprisoned Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to go to Germany for medical treatment, but the Ukrainian Duma voted down measures that would have allowed for it.

Yanukovich reportedly regards Tymoshenko as a threat to his chances for re-election in 2015.

Ukrainian opposition leader Arseny Yatsenyuk railed against the announcement that the Ukrainian government was suspending its pursuit of the EU deal, calling the decision treason and arguing that it was grounds for Yanukovich’s impeachment.

The EU question might not be over for Ukraine:

Many commentators believed Yanukovich had been playing a game of brinkmanship to extract better financial terms from Brussels. The EU appears split on how much to indulge him.

Many EU members, such as Ukraine’s immediate neighbour Poland, are anxious to seal a deal at the summit because it will prise Ukraine away from Russia’s historic embrace.

But other EU states, such as Sweden, feel that fundamental democratic values are at stake and want Ukraine to fulfil criteria that include ending ‘selective justice’.

Full original article appears at reuters.com/article/2013/11/21/us-ukraine-eu-idUSBRE9AK0S220131121